Colour Therapy

Published on by Catherine

This is the time of year when the garden begins to look underwhelming. I needed a bit of colour therapy, but instead of heading to the garden centre to buy a few in-bloom plants, I lifted the camera bag and headed into the greenhouse with half-an-idea rattling about in my head.

Nothing was pre-planned, all I knew was that I wanted bulbs to reflect the coming spring, and leaves to reflect the season now. As it was Halloween-time I had pumpkins and squashes for the doorstep and I used a few of the smaller ones. The background was made up of some shortened, old fence slats propped against the greenhouse glass.

I added an old piece of hessian, snipped a few hydrangea leaves to the gathered leaves from a walk in the park and dug out an old, tired-looking, but still-in-one-piece trug. It’s not a sophisticated arrangement, cobbled together quickly as it was getting dark. I hadn’t intended to do a Six on Saturday this week, but I had six photos, so here they are.

Once the rustic arrangement was photographed, I put a sheet of black foam board on the greenhouse floor and tossed down a few leaves. Okay, so I did move a few of them, but they were mostly where they landed.

Taking photographs always lifts my spirits, in much the same way that working in the garden does.

I won’t claim that the colour of the leaves are realistic; the goal was to produce rich colour. That evening I processed the RAW files in Lightroom, tweaking the colours, texture and sharpening until I had the effect I was looking for.

The board was not the dense black I was hoping for, but it did the job. The image below shows Rosa Rugosa leaves.

Below is an image of two Hydrangea leaves from ‘Lanarth White’. The leaves are larger than the other hydrangeas in the garden, softer to the touch, and softer in colour. I can almost forgive it for not flowering this year, although, it was moved late last autumn and I think it was simply sulking. It has another year to prove itself, because it has really great flowers.

On that gloomy day, as the garden edged towards winter, I could have chosen to plant spring bulbs or tend to the perennials or mulch the beds. But, I found more pleasure that day, in taking a few shots of some autumn colour. It made me happy. I often have to remind myself that it’s okay to occasionally set aside pressures to complete garden jobs-in-waiting; they can always be tended to another time.

What about you? Do you have projects that cheer you up when the days are shorter and the nights are longer and your garden is winding down for the season ahead?

Jim at Garden Ruminations hosts Six on Saturday. Pop over to his garden to see what’s going on.

Have a lovely weekend!

Catherine x

23 thoughts on “Colour Therapy”

      1. You’re welcome Catherine.
        Yes things are about as colorful as they are going to get this year. A lot of the leaves just went straight to brown as a result of recent dry weather.

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  7. Very, very nice! Colour therapy is so healthful, isn’t it? And we’re so fortunate to have functioning eyes to see the shades of beautiful colours! Lately, the autumn leaves in my part of the world have been at peak, and every year they surprise me with their vibrance. Your arrangement is lovely! Thanks so much for sharing it!

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    1. I feel that colour is essential in autumn, as winter can be so grey and lifeless and can often soak the enthusiasm and energy out of people. There’s still colour in my garden, but everything has already been photographed, and a little bit earlier than usual, the colour is now being drained from the roses.

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  10. Beautiful, what a wonderful arrangment! So glad you are celebrating the wonderful foliage colour we have at this time of year.

    hoping my son and I have sorted my WordPress problem, hope this works!

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  11. That is a lovely way to celebrate the season Catherine, and definitely something to make you feel more cheerful on a dreary day. Beautfiul photos as always. You have made those leaves come alive. 💕🍁😁

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    1. Thank you Cathy. Christmas planning is now rapidly replacing garden planning – but I really need to get those bulbs planted! It’s becoming a choice between 🧑🏻‍🎄 and 👩🏻‍🌾. Enjoy the rest of the week!

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